Re: “Is the future communist?” by Paul Mason, TNW #496
As ever, a thoughtful response to age-old problems. The catalyst for authoritarianism is the small cohort of wealthy people who use their ownership of technology to extract even more wealth from the system. People then become angry with their lot and turn to extreme solutions. If there is indeed a group of rich people outside the control of democratic government, the implications are grave. It is that the democratic system isn’t working or indeed workable, with all the sinister implications that brings.
Brian Ronson
Re: “The Bayeux Tapestry’s medieval message for our times,” by Matthew d’Ancona, TNW #496
I’ve seen the tapestry, which is a fascinating piece of history/propaganda/art. One very good point made by this article is that English nationalists’ fantasy of an England standing separate against Europe has been demonstrably false throughout history – and indeed, as the Stonehenge burials show, throughout prehistory, too. The UK has always been part of Europe; the artificial part of our relationship is the current separation.
Thomas Landon
Re: “How Gen z turned into Gen Xi,” by Lucy Reade, TNW #496
Every day we see Donald Trump attempting to divest his country of international responsibility, to undermine Nato and ignore poverty and suffering abroad. Trump chatters without any attempt to make what he says conform with reality. In the face of this, many of our young people have gone to China to get first-hand experience of how Chinese society works in practice. Can we blame them?
Jim Slattery
If I was given a choice today between living in the US or China, I would choose China. I am 75. I am well aware of all its shortcomings, but I think anyone who believes what is happening in Trump’s US is any better is deluding themselves.
Janet Bayford
Suggested Reading
China’s dictatorship has become weirdly attractive to young Westerners
Re: “At 19, I was lucky. Monica Lewinsky wasn’t,” by Jamie Klingler, TNW #496
This really resonates with me. It has taken years for me to accept I was taken advantage of. It’s such a narrow line between being in a safe place and not.
Sarah Lea
I have no doubt that Monica Lewinsky, like most young women, was far from unaware of the power of her youth and sexuality. I was one of those women. A young woman in their late teens or early 20s might make use of this power without grasping how dangerous it can be. I had two lengthy affairs with men old enough to be my father. I could never claim to have been exploited, in fact I have very happy memories. The only time I was ever exploited was by an age contemporary, and I now understand that I was date raped.
Susan Dunstall
Re: “The strange new language of Britain’s right,” by James Ball, TNW #496
“Patriots” never seem to understand the difference between the UK, Great Britain and the British Isles. Or which way up the flag goes.
Ste Thomas
“Lanyard class” is the modern-day equivalent of “clipboard-wielding”, as “woke” is just today’s “political correctness gone mad”.
Adrian Dobbie
Re: “Will the sensible Tories please start a new party?” by Patience Wheatcroft, TNW #496
It already exists – it’s the Labour Party.
Allan Williams
The piece refers to the “escalating welfare bill” . The OBR has said the opposite, as it is stable and forecast to fall next year. As a disabled reader, I am disappointed to keep reading this disputed opinion.
Nick Prince
Re: “The media’s weird Harry and Meghan hate machine,” by Mic Wright, TNW #496
The volume of articles and the bile the press spout is entirely unsurprising given the spotlight that has been put on them in the courts. It is not reporting. It is revenge, designed to enrage.
Michael Day
Few families are as generously insulated from financial pressure as the royal family. As public funding for the institution has continued to increase exponentially, taxpayers have experienced stagnant living standards, rising costs, and growing economic insecurity. So while I am among the 60% who don’t care, equally, I don’t have to support the royal family or what the institution stands for.
Edward Shaw
Be careful what you wish for. I am prepared to accept a non-political person as head of state, who has been given that role through inheritance. Why? Because the alternatives – populist figures “elected” with the backing of dodgy funding – are likely to be worse.
J Burgess
Re: “The TV show that gets ADHD all wrong,” by Marie Le Conte, TNW #496
I’m a cognitive neuroscientist who has worked in this space. I thought the documentary was misleading, biased, unscientific, and lacking any real credibility. Yes, there are issues with the way ADHD is diagnosed and treated, but this documentary did nothing to address them. It was a missed opportunity to have a valuable debate on how to improve treatment and support patients. I’m extremely disappointed with Channel 4.
Christine O
Re: “The new Trump vaccine order could
kill thousands of Americans,” by Philip Ball, TNW #496
The experiment to see the effect of giving each of the MMR vaccines separately has already been seen in Japan. After a drive to give each of the vaccines separately, measles remained endemic, and deaths far outstripped any putative vaccine side-effects.
Perhaps RFK Jnr might read Roald Dahl’s account of his daughter’s death from measles in 1962 if he wants to see what he is advocating.
Kieran O’Flynn
Below the line
Re: “All you need is crap,” by John Bleasdale, TNW #496
Your main photo actually shows the Beatles in Raymond’s Revue Bar in “Magical Mystery Tour”, watching The Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band perform Death Cab For Cutie, while Jan Carson stripped. This would account for John having his legs crossed. Their appearance at the animation studio was actually a year or so later, in “Yellow Submarine”. John by then had longer hair and enviable mutton-chop sideburns.
Hunt Emerson
I have to admit I will be avoiding this film like the plague. The Beatles are just something that shouldn’t be toyed with in the Hollywood way.
Wendy Hodgson
Re: “It’s time to rejoin the real world,” by Shuab Gamote, TNW #496
Steve Jobs, when designing Pixar’s HQ, wanted the only toilets in the building to be in a central atrium to encourage people to run into each other, have spontaneous conversations, discover new ways of thinking, share ideas, meet new people… participate fully in society. We need the equivalent.
Phil Adams
